International rankings of high-school learning shows U.S. far from leader

WASHINGTON, D.C. –U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan reacted with consternation to the 2009 results released on Tuesday, Dec. 7, by the Program for International Assessment (PISA) of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development showing that 15-year-old students in the United States are far from leadership in various fields of learning. Here is a link to the chart showing the rankings.

Said Duncan: “Today’s PISA results show that America needs to urgently accelerate student learning to remain competitive in the global economy of the 21st century. More parents, teachers, and leaders need to recognize the reality that other high-achieving nations are both out-educating us and out-competing us. Our educational system has a long way to go to fulfill the American promise of education as the great equalizer.

“Being average in reading and science — and below average in math — is not nearly good enough in a knowledge economy where scientific and technological literacy is so central to sustaining innovation and international competitiveness. The results are especially troubling because PISA assesses applied knowledge and the higher-order thinking skills critical to success in the information age.”

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Preceding compiled from PISA and from the U.S. Department of Education